BERLIN, October 17. /TASS/. Robert Habeck, co-leader of the German party Alliance 90/The Greens, has called on the German government to discuss the situation on the European gas market with Moscow.

"We depend on Russia and it restricts gas supplies," he said in an interview with the ARD television channel. "[Gas] storage facilities [in Germany] are not full but the demand is high. The current German government must waste no time and speak with Russia to change this situation."

According to Habeck, The Greens believe that the Nord Stream 2 project cannot be granted a permit for the operation because of the EU Gas Directive. "It looks like Russia is playing a kind of poker with us. But this is a matter of foreign policy, which the German government can at least discuss," he said.

Germany’s possible future chancellor, Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the ZDF television channel on Sunday that the certification of the gas pipeline and the issuance of an operations permit are "absolutely formal processes."

German Energy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday, the country’s gas storage facilities are 75% full and the country is not dependent on Russian gas. The German energy ministry has repeatedly stressed that it has no data on Moscow’s failure to meet its contract liabilities.

The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that Nord Stream 2 is an entirely commercial project that is being implemented jointly with European partners. Speaking at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week on October 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed allegations that Russia uses energy issues as weapons as politically-motivated idle talk. "Even in the most difficult periods of the Cold War, Russia always implemented its contract liabilities in full and supplied gas to Europe.".